A coalition of national Latino organizations is campaigning to expand pension access for more millions of Latinos working on their retirement plan, and Latino lawmakers are helping engage the debate.

The Latinos for a Secure Retirement's (LSR) summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday featured Latino leaders and retirement experts examining the ways to increase access to retirement plans. As LSR noted, despite being one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S., Latinos are less likely to have workplace retirement plans than white Americans, and, as a result, will become "increasingly reliant on modest Social Security."

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA), Latinos have a higher life expectancy at age 65 compared to the rest of the population. As the AARP recognized, Latino retirees rely on monthly Social Security checks, and it may be their main source of retirement income. Among Latino males ages 65 and older, the average annual Social Security income was $14,148 in 2013, higher compared to $10,931 for Latinas.

"A secure, comfortable retirement is every worker's dream. And because we're living longer, healthier lives now, we can expect to spend more time in retirement than our parents and 'abuelos' did," SSA noted. "Achieving that dream is much easier when you plan your finances."

At the fourth annual Retirement Empowerment Summit at the Rayburn House Office Building, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) spoke about Latinos' need to plan a secure retirement.

CHC Chairwoman Linda Sanchez, representative for California's 38th Congressional District, was the keynote speaker at the summit, and recognized that Latinos tend to talk about what they want to do during retirement but not about how to achieve it. Sanchez shared the story about her grandmother, living with $484 a month through Social Security. Sanchez's grandmother had earned minimum wage, thus could not save money for retirement.

"First, we need to start educating our children about the pitfalls of not saving for retirement. And second, we need to protect retirement programs from being compromised," said Sanchez, noting Latinos will comprise 30 percent of the U.S. population by 2050, which equates to over 100 million people.

"Yet, four out of five Latino households have less than $10,000 in retirement savings," said Sanchez. "In fact, 7 in 10 Latinos do not have enough savings to cover three months of living expenses. When you think about it, that's scary. Our community works so hard to achieve the American Dream. But we don't always think about the need to prepare for retirement security."

Sanchez said there is a need to ensure the next generation is prepared for retirement, noting it is as important as immigration reform and voting rights.

As the only Latina in the House Ways and Means Committee, Sanchez has worked on improving financial security for all working families, including Latinos. She introduced the "Strengthen Social Security Act" (H.R. 3118) in 2013 and is among the original co-sponsors of the "One Social Security Act" (H.R. 3150), introduced by House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra, representative for California's 34th Congressional District -- who also addressed the summit attendees on Wednesday. Becerra's legislation would merge the Social Security Trust Fund and avert disability benefit cuts in 2016.

Becerra also told the Retirement Empowerment Summit attendees about the need to teach "financial literacy" to young adults, especially as more than 80,000 Latinos turn 18 years old every month.

"More and more young Americans of color aren't learning how to manage their money," said Becerra in his remarks. "We should be teaching financial literacy from the earliest stages of mind. Right now Latinos are very young, but as we grow older and in bigger in numbers Social Security is going to become more important. Help our kids become financially literate. If the first two words you utter when you talk about financial security and retirement for anyone is, 'Social Security,' then you've done America's great service."

Becerra said Social Security is not going bankrupt and told guests to help set the record straight if anyone tells them otherwise.

"Social Security right now has three trillion dollars in reserves," Becerra added. "But we are going to use that money over the next 20 years and so we have to figure out ways to meet the challenge so that Social Security is there in full and on time. It is up to us to make sure that our generations and our communities have the guarantee of Social Security -- that it will be full and on time for all of us."

Fellow CHC members Raúl Grijlava and Ruben Gallego of Arizona; Grace Napolitano and Tony Cardenas of California; Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico and Ruben Hinojosa of Texas also engaged in the Retirement Empowerment Summit.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Politics Editor Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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